New Perspectives, New Solutions: Funding Organising Led by Girls and Young Women

A Community of Practice (similar to a learning cohort) of womens funds supporting girls' and young women's groups (formal or informal organisations created and run by young women and girls) was developed in 2011 by the international women's fund Mama Cash and a women's fund based in Central America, Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres, with the support of the Nike Foundation. The Community of Practice (CoP), comprised of 11 women's funds from Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, provided an opportunity for the funds to learn from each other, improve their practices to better respond to the needs of young women and girl-led groups and change the funding landscape to make it more accessible to young women's and girls' human rights groups globally.

Over three years of working closely with young women, exploring young feminist culture and reassessing their own internal systems, the CoP members learned that it is not only necessary for funders to take notice of young women's and girls' groups, but vital. Following are seven recommendations to consider when venturing into this exciting sphere along with examples of how CoP members moved these ideas in action.